KD

#25 GxSA (Galaxy Summer Ale)

2010-03-05T13:28:00.002+10:00

Brewed: 3rd December, 2009

Another catch up post. This next beer in my series of Summer Ales was the second one that used Galaxy Hops. The change between this one and the last one was that instead of using Torrified Wheat, I used Carapils malt. I am assuming that the wheat content in the original recipe is used to aid head retention, and as Carapils is also used for that, I thought I would see if I could notice any difference between the two. I'm actually planning on doing the side-by-side test later on today, and I'll report the results back here in the near future.

The brewday didn't go entirely to plan. It was the first time I had a boil-over in the full size kettle, resulting in quite a mess in the brewery. I also made a note that the final volume appeared to be lower than usual, which I put down to the extra vigorous boiling at the start (which is what overflowed the kettle!). Aside from that, I came close to my target numbers, and more importantly, the numbers were consistent with similar recipes done previously.

The recipe:

Australian Pale Malt: 4500g
Carapils: 400g

Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 12g @ -80 mins ~18 IBU
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 12g @-20 mins ~10 IBU
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 16g @ -5 mins ~4 IBU
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 23g in no-chill cube < 1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 64C End: 61.5C

Run-off: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1041
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Target OG: 1047
Actual OG: 1046

Volume in fermenter: 21L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #24 GBSA)
Ferment temperature: 19C

FG: 1011
ABV: 4.6%

#24 GBSA (Green Bullet Summer Ale)

2010-03-05T12:56:00.006+10:00

Brewed: 25th November, 2009

Time for a catch up post. I had used Green Bullet hops before with great success in a couple of New Zealand Pale Ales and wanted to see how the hops worked in the Summer Ale hop schedule, ie, with more late additions. The first time I tried the first of my NZPAs, it immediately brought back memories of some beers from previous trips to NZ, even though at the time I didn't think that NZ beers had any particular common flavour/aroma traits. I've since heard that this hop is used by a few commercial breweries in NZ, which probably explains the association I made.

I actually brewed this on the same day as the #23 German "Eis Pale Ale", mashing in at the same time that the German ale was in the kettle, and it's the only time so far that I've done two brews in a day. Mind you, the German ale was already in sweet-wort form, so I only needed to do the one mash on the day. In any case, I don't think it added too much time to the whole day, which is good to know if I ever want to do multiple batches in the future.

Although I had another beer in mind to take to Mackay over the xmas period, it hadn't finished carbonating in time so a keg of this one went up instead. It turned out to be a good choice, as it was more interesting than a lot of mega-swill beers out there, but not over the top in terms of flavour and aroma so you could enjoy a few in a sitting (and that we did!). I've since been told that this would also be a good "gateway beer", to show those who are not as adventurous with trying different beers that there is a whole other world of flavour out there!

The recipe:

Australian Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Green Bullet pellets (13% AA): 13g @ -80 mins ~18 IBU
Green Bullet pellets (13% AA): 12g @-20 mins ~10 IBU
Green Bullet pellets (13% AA): 16g @ -5 mins ~4 IBU
Green Bullet pellets (13% AA): 22g in no-chill cube < 1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 64C End: 62C

Run-off: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1040
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Target OG: 1047 Actual: 1046

Volume in fermenter: 22L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #22 GxSA)
Ferment temperature: 19C

FG: 1013
ABV: 4.4%

#35 RP (Chocolate Porter/Stout)

2010-03-04T16:02:00.003+10:00

Brewed: 25th February, 2010

I've brewed this recipe a couple of times before, and with St. Patrick's day not far away, I thought I'd brew it up again for that occasion. Unfortunately, the Wild Brew is still chugging away in the fermenter, so I haven't been able to get this one fermenting yet and I'll be pushing it to get it ready in time! Luckily I've still got a few bottles from the last batch if it's not ready in time.

The last time I brewed the beer, it came out a little more roasty than I was expecting it, pushing it more into Stout territory, hence the slight naming confusion in the title. I had to substitute a smaller quantity of Chocolate malt for some of the Carafa Special grain this time, as I didn't have enough of the latter for the recipe. I also added a little more cocoa this time (150g instead of 100g) and added it to the no-chill cube instead of the kettle in the hope of pushing the beer back into Porter territory. The experiment on the last batch with using late citrus style hops didn't have the desired effect of adding a noticeable citrus taste to the beer, but the flavour worked out well, so I went with a similar late hop schedule. I substituted Fuggles for East Kent Goldings as the bittering addition due to stock levels.

The brew day went completely to plan - all target numbers were hit and no mistakes were made. I was joined for part of the day by my sister's friend, Aaron, who currently makes beer from Kits & Bits. He wanted to see the process involved at this level, which I was happy to show.

The recipe (based on the previous batch):

Australian Pale Malt: 4500g
Light Munich: 1000g
Crystal 135: 500g
Chocolate Malt: 250g
Carafa Special II: 100g
Roast Barley: 100g
Cocoa powder: 150g (added to no-chill cube)

Fuggles pellets (4.5% AA): 51g @ -45 mins ~21 IBU
Cascade pellets (6.6% AA): 18g @ -5 mins ~2 IBU
Cascade pellets (6.8% AA): 10g in no-chill cube <1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 68C
Start: 68C End: 66.4C

Run-off: 28L

Pre-boil SG: 1052
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Post-boil volume (hot): 24L
Target OG: 1057 Actual: 1058

Yeast: Re-cultured Coopers yeast (harvested from #31 CSA)
Ferment temperature: 18C

February mini-comp results

2010-03-04T13:17:00.004+10:00

Last Thursday's BABBs meeting included the first mini-competition of the year. The selected styles for the competition were Australian Pale Ale and English Bitters. At the mini-competitions, you can enter up to two beers, but only one can count towards points that are accumulated over the year, and the other is just for feedback. To make things more interesting, you have to choose which is which at the time of entering.

I did a tasting of my three contenders a couple of days before and I decided to enter my Coopers Sparkling Ale clone as my "points" entry, and my English Best Bitter for feedback. The Australian Pale Ale that missed out was starting to show some signs of aging, and wasn't tasting nearly as good as the other two beers. Once that was decided, it was also easy for me to choose the Sparkling Ale clone as the better beer, as the Best Bitter had an unexpected slightly dirty/ashy flavour to it. I'm still not sure where that came from, but am happy to say that it is starting to fade away now.

In the end it didn't matter, as both of my beers scored 36/50. The winning beer of the night scored 39, but there were at least four others that scored higher, as I wasn't mentioned in the top 5. Out of 31 entries in total though, I am still happy with the two results.

I've transcribed the scoresheets below. Unfortunately, I didn't get a whole lot of feedback on the Best Bitter - I was mainly hoping that someone might have an insight as to where the unexpected flavour was coming from. As for the Sparkling Ale, it turns out that it was judged by our table, so I inadvertently received even more feedback than we recorded on the scoresheet. It was the last beer we judged though, and after the four other beers (three ordinary bitters and another Australian pale ale), I didn't recognise it from the flavour! The lack of carbonation that we marked it down for was possibly from the way I filled the bottles. I'll make sure that it's slightly over carbonated next time I fill it from the keg.

#31 CSA Category 3A (Australian Pale Ale)
Aroma: 10/12
Good fruit & ester
Bready aroma coming through
Slight solvent aroma?
Apple aroma coming through

Appearance: 2/3
Carbonation a bit low

Flavour: 14/20
Bitterness is too strong for malt

Mouthfeel: 3/5
Lacking carbonation
Not finishing dry enough

Overall Impression: 7/10
Good drinking beer
Needs more carbonation

#32 EBB Category 3C (English Best Bitter)
Aroma: 9/12
Fruity and malty aroma

Appearance: 2/3
Some cloudiness

Flavour: 15/20

Mouthfeel: 3/5

Overall Impression: 7/10
Typical of style

#34 BWB (BABBs Wild Brew)

2010-02-28T18:03:00.006+10:00

Brewed: 19th February, 2010

This beer is part of a collaboration brew for the brewing club I belong to. The idea is that about 22 members will brew up the same recipe and ferment it out under the same conditions (well, as close as possible anyway), then the resulting beer will be blended together and aged in an ex-wine barrel with another yeast strain. At the end of the year, we will bottle off half of the barrel and then brew a new beer (possibly a different recipe) and blend it with the remaining half of the beer and the cycle will start again. More details, including the recipe, can be found on the BABBs website.

With an estimated original gravity of 1.104 SG, this was by far the biggest brew I've ever attempted. The grain alone for this batch weighed in just under 8kg; three kilograms more for the same volume than the usual grain bill for the Summer Ales I have been brewing over the recent months. As I still only have a hand mill, I was lucky enough to get the grians pre-milled!

I was a little surprised to see that my system was able to extract the necessary amount of sugar from the grain for such a large volume, with my pre-boil gravity coming in just above the calculated expected value and getting more volume than I had anticipated. I think this was partly to my mis-calculation of sparge water volumes, resulting in first-runnings of 20 litres instead of the expected 14! I adjusted the second sparge to account for this mistake. I'll have to look into this calculation again for future big beers so I don't make the same mistake again.

The gravity of the second runnings was indeed high enough that I decided to sparge one more time and get 5 litres of additional sweet-wort from the grain. It's still sitting in the fridge (after being boiled) waiting for me to make a decision about what to do with it.

My evaporation rate wasn't quite as high as I predicted, and as a result, I needed to boil the wort for two and a half hours instead of the predicted two. It probably could have done with an extra 10 minutes on top of that to hit the target OG spot on, but it was close enough in the end.

The biggest mistake I made on the day was that I didn't notice that my kettle drain filter had become blocked towards the end of draining, and I assumed that it had finished emptying. This resulted in me leaving behind 3 litres in the bottom of the kettle instead of the normal 1 litre I usually lose, and pretty much canceled out the great extraction efficiency I had during mashing. I think the blockage was partly caused by the wort being a lot more dense than I am normally used to - yet another lesson learned.

These were my results from the brewday:

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 65C
Start: 65C End: 63.5C

Runoff: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1.068
Boil time: 150 mins

Post-boil volume (hot): 21L
Target OG: 1.104 Actual: 1.101

Volume in fermenter: 17L
Yeast: Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity
Ferment temperature: 18C for first 24h, then up to 24C

#33 ChSA (Chinook Summer Ale)

2010-02-28T16:49:00.003+10:00

Brewed: 13th February, 2010

This was the 9th batch in the Summer Ale series I have been brewing and a contender for the BABBs March mini-competition, which focuses on American Ales. I actually changed two key ingredients for this batch; the hops and the base malt. I chose Chinook hops as I've heard of its good for bittering and flavouring aspects, and although I haven't used it before, I've tasted a few beers that contain Chinook and have enjoyed the flavour. This recipe will isolate the hop flavour so I can see what it tastes like itself. I changed the base malt for this recipe too, as I knew I wanted to enter it into the competition, and American Pale Ales are meant to have a bit more of a malt component than what I've been getting in my previous Summer Ales. I chose English Maris Otter, as it is said to leave more malt flavour trace than the Australian Pale Malt I've used in the past.

I first noticed the difference that the base malt brought to the recipe when I was draining the Mash/Lauter tun; the runnings were a lot darker and cloudier than I had seen in the past. It almost had a green hue to it and certainly appeared to have a higher suspended protein content. The aroma from the mash and kettle was also a bit more grainy than what I remember from previous batches, so hopefully that carries through in the final product.

I hit most of my targets on the day, with the exception of stopping the boil a few minutes late, hence the odd timings for the hop additions.

I've since tasted the beer after primary fermentation finished, and really noticed a good citrus aroma and grapefruit/passionfruit flavours coming through. I'm going to dry-hop the keg before I bottle my competition entry, with the aim of delivering more of that fresh aroma on the night. I didn't notice a change to the malt flavour at the time though, so I'm not sure if that part of the experiment has paid off. Time will tell.

The recipe:

Maris Otter Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Chinook pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -83 mins ~19 IBU
Chinook pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -23 mins ~ 14 IBU
Chinook pellets (11.5% AA): 20g @ -8 mins ~ 4 IBU
Chinook pellets (11.5% AA): 20g in no-chill cube < 1 IBU
Chinook pellets (11.5% AA): 20g dry-hop in keg < 1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 64C End: 63C

Runoff: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1042
Boil time: 90 mins

Post-boil volume (hot): 24L
Target OG: 1049 Actual: 1051

Volume in fermenter: 19.5L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #30 AmSA)
Ferment temperature: 19C

Actual FG: 1010
ABV: 5.4%

#23 GIPA (German Eis-PA)

2010-02-11T16:41:00.004+10:00

Brewed: 25th November, 2009

Time for a catch up post. This brew came about after a BABBs social outing up to Eagle Heights Brewery at Mount Tamborine. On the day we were there, they made up 500L of boiled sweet-wort, which was packaged into 20L cubes and distributed to members of the club. Each member who took some wort home was able to further process the wort and ferment it out however they pleased, with the only exception that no further malt could be added to it (other fermentables, such as sugar, honey, etc were ok). The results were to be brought back to the club's first meeting of the year in January, where we got to try everyone's beer side-by-side. The grain bill for the wort was 100% Munich malt, mashed at 66.5°C then boiled for 45 minutes.

Here's a picture of me on the day peering into the Mash/Lauter tun as Johann, another BABBs member, was mixing in the grain:

A great day was had by all, starting off at Eagle Heights Brewery, then heading up the road to MT Brewery for a few more beers before returning home. There's more pictures from the day on Eagle Heights Brewery's website, and more information about the day in the BABBs November newsletter.

Anyway, back to the brew. I didn't want to do anything too fancy with it, as I wanted the Munich Malt to shine through the end result. I was considering doing a SMaSH, but then had the idea of combining German and English ingredients, and doing something along the lines of an IPA, a style I hadn't tried brewing before. So I ended up with German malt, German bittering hops, English flavouring hops, and English yeast.

One of the most interesting things to happen with this batch was that at the end of five weeks of cold conditioning at around 0-1°C, when I went to transfer the beer to a keg, I found that it was a little too cold and had partly iced up on the inside! I only noticed this after I had started transferring, so I couldn't wait for it to thaw out. In the end, I decided to leave the ice behind and ended up with an Eis Bier! A German Eis Bier (Ice Beer) is made in a similar way, where once the beer has finished fermenting, it is cooled to below 0°C. At this temperature, the water component of the beer starts freezing, but the alcohol, which has a lower freezing temperature, remains in liquid form. Once the water is in ice form, it can be separated from the beer, thus concentrating the remaining flavour and alcohol. In my case, I only lost about 2 litres out of 16 to ice, which increased the alcohol content by about 1%. Ordinarily, brewers yeast can only tolerate alcohol up to 12-15% ABV, but by repeating the process, you can get the alcohol content much higher, which is how some beers can achieve up to 40% ABV.

I was pretty happy with how this one turned out - a great strong malt flavour. If anything, it is a little too bitter, but I'm planning on letting it sit for a couple of months and see if it smooths out.

There was a wide variety to the beers that were brought to the January meeting by the other members. There was a Belgian interpretation, a Bock and Dopple-bock, a couple of Dunkels, a sour-orange and a berry infused brew, and then there were those that were flavoured with oak chips, chai spices, and even pureed banana! I also took the oportunity to enter a bottle to be judged by Eagle Heights Brewery's owner, Ed Gordon, with the chance of winning a case of Mikkeller beer. I guess that will be announced at the next meeting.

This was the recipe I went with:

Light Munich Malt: 100%

Perle pellets (8.3% AA): 30g @ -60mins ~35 IBU
East Kent Golding pellets (4.8% AA): 47g @ -15mins ~15 IBU

Pre-boil gravity: 1051
Pre-boil volume: 20L

Boil time: 60 minutes

OG: 1064

Volume in fermenter: 16.2L
Yeast: WLP005 British Ale Yeast
Ferment temp: 19C

FG: 1018
Pre-ice ABV: ~6%
Final Volume: 14.2L
Final ABV: ~6.9%

#32 EBB (English Best Bitter)

2010-02-11T14:54:00.004+10:00

Brewed: 6th February, 2010

This is another contender for the February BABBs mini-competition. In all I'll have three to choose from; this one, #31 CSA and #29 OPA. The rules of the competition are that you can only enter one beer to count towards scoring, and one additional beer to get feed-back on, so I'll enter the one that fits to style best for scoring, and perhaps the one I want to improve for feedback.

This brew will be cutting it fine for the competition, but it's also a style that is better fresh/young, so that might work out in my favour. I figure I'll have a week for primary, then transfer it to finish off fermenting (maybe three days?), four days cold conditioning and a couple of days to carbonate it. The competition is on February 25th and I transferred to primary on the 9th. Yes, definitely cutting it fine!

Once again, I was shooting for a lower volume with the intention of having just enough to fill one keg. I've only just started adjusting recipe volumes and I now realise that I have made a couple of mistakes over the last couple of batches, thinking I was doing the right thing by scaling the volume along with the grains & hops. Unfortunately, I hadn't taken into account that things like evaporation rate and transfer losses remain fairly constant, and so on both occasions, I have ended up with far less volume in the fermenter than I was expecting. It's a good lesson to learn, and something I'll be practising over the next few brews until I get right.

There were a couple of hiccups on the day. Firstly, during pre-heating the Mash/Lauter tun, I noticed a small leak at the tap, but subsequently forgot to tighten it after emptying. It wasn't until the grain was in and I'd started filling it that I noticed the leak again. Luckily, I was filling the tun from the bottom, which meant most of the grist on top was still quite dry and I was able to remove enough to get in and tighten the tap. I'll have to figure out a way to remind myself in the future.

The second problem came as a result of cleaning up from the last batch, when I mixed up the stainless steel washers from the MLT and Kettle. I had thought they were the same size, but it turns out that the kettle one is slightly bigger and I couldn't get the other one to fit. I only noticed this after the MLT was full so I was unable to retrieve the proper kettle washer, which meant I had to file back the mash tun washer until it fit the kettle. This lead to slight delays after mashing. On the plus side, the two washers really are interchangeable now.

Everything else went to plan, and aside from the lower volume, I'm confident about the result. I recently bought some English Maris Otter malted barley to use in some of my more malt-driven ales instead of the Australian Pale malt. The aroma coming from the mash tun was noticeably nuttier, the sweet wort had a nice grainy taste to it, and there was a slight toffee flavour in the hopped wort. I'm really looking forward to tasting the finished product.

The recipe (based on this one):
[Note that the original recipe calls only for Caramunich II, but as I didn't have enough, I substituted the remaining amount for the lighter Caramunich I]

Maris Otter Pale Malt: 3717g (88%)
Caramunich II: 268g (6.5%)
Wheat Malt: 165g (4%)
Caramunich I: 62g (1.5%)

East Kent Golding pellets (4.8% AA): 54g @ -60mins ~32 IBU
East Kent Golding pellets (4.8% AA): 17g @ -60mins ~5 IBU
East Kent Golding pellets (4.8% AA): 17g added to no-chill cube <1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 67C

Start: 67C End: 65.5C

Runoff: 25L

Pre-boil SG: 1043
Boil time: 60 minutes

Target OG: 1046 Actual: 1048
Post-boil volume (hot): 20.5L

Volume in fermenter: 17.5L
Yeast: WLP005 British Ale harvested from #27 DA
Ferment temp: 19C

Updated 4th March: This beer scored 36/50 in the BABBs February 2010 mini-competition. Results posted here.

#31 CSA (Coopers Sparkling Ale clone)

2010-02-01T20:52:00.003+10:00

Brewed: 31st January, 2010

I decided to brew this batch for a couple of reasons; first, it fits in to one of the styles open for competition at the February BABBs mini-competition, and second, it looks like we're going to a party at the end of February where this style of beer could go down pretty well. The hop signature of this, and many other Australian main-stream beers, is that of the Pride of Ringwood cultivar, and although it's far from my favourite from a flavour perspective, it's pretty distinctive, and in my experience, reasonably easy to replicate from a home brewing perspective.

I was shooting for a lower volume with this brew with the intention of getting enough to fill just one keg (without any left overs for bottling). Unfortunately my calculations were a bit out when it came to my first sparge water and I ended up with a lower first-runnings volume. I made up for it with the second sparge, whilst still being close enough with my pre and post boil gravities.

The yeast for this batch is currently being brought back to life from a couple of Coopers Pale Ales I was enjoying the other night. For those reading who aren't aware, Coopers' beers are bottle conditioned with what is reported to be the same strain of yeast that they use in primary fermentation. What this means from a home brewing perspective is that you can take the "dregs" from a Coopers beer and build it back up to a quantity of yeast suitable for pitching into your own brew, giving you a yeast flavour profile and properties that are similar to Coopers' beers. There's an article and discussion about how to do this on AussieHomeBrewer.com.

The recipe (based on this one):

JW Pale Malt: 4030g
Wheat Malt: 225g
Crystal 125 Malt: 75g

Pride of Ringwood pellets (8.3% AA): 17g @-60 mins ~17 IBU
Pride of Ringwood flowers (9.6% AA): 11g @-60 mins ~12 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 63C

Start: 63C End: 61C

Runoff: 24.5L

Pre-boil SG: 1043
Boil time: 60 minutes

Target OG: 1051 Actual: 1048
Post-boil volume: 19.5L

Yeast: Recultured Coopers Ale yeast
Ferment temp: 18C
Target fermenter volume: 20L

Updated 4th March: This beer scored 36/50 in the BABBs February 2010 mini-competition. Results posted here.

#30 AmSA (Amarillo Summer Ale)

2010-01-28T14:58:00.002+10:00

Brewed: 10th January, 2010

The eight batch of beer in the Summer Ale Series, this time using Amarillo for the hopping component. This was a bit of a last-minute batch to accompany the Oz Pale Ale for our firend's party this Saturday. As I write this, the beer has just finished carbonating and will get a couple of days rest at about 3°C. The hydrometer samples I've tasted so far have been very promising and I look forward to tasting the final product!

In terms of recipe formulation, I used Beer Alchemy to determine how to adjust the hop bittering addition based on the lower Alpha Acid content of the Amarillo hops (as compared to Nelson Sauvin or Galaxy). Based on the advice of another brewer, I left the weights for the flavour and aroma additions the same as the base recipe.

As far as the brew day was concerned, I was pretty close to my target mash temperature, starting fractionally high and ending up only losing less than two degrees over the hour. First runnings were a little low, but I managed to compensate well with the second volume of sparge water added. In a major oversight on my behalf, I didn't record the original gravity anywhere (or I did but forgot to save it), so I'm only going by memory on that one. There also may have been a little bit of precipitated hot-break material that made its way into the fermenter, as my kettle filter came off at some point during draining. Not that I'm worried it will have any impact on flavour, but if it does, I have something that I might be able to trace it back to.

The recipe:

JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Amarillo pellets (8.6% AA): 20g @ -80 mins ~19 IBU
Amarillo pellets (8.6% AA): 25g @ -20 mins ~ 14 IBU
Amarillo pellets (8.6% AA): 20g @ -5 mins ~ 4 IBU
Amarillo pellets (8.6% AA): 25g in no-chill cube < 1 IBU

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 64.3C End: 62.5C

Runoff: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1039
Boil time: 90 mins

Target OG: 1047 Actual: 1047

Volume in fermenter: 22.5L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #26 XMAS)
Ferment temperature: 19C

Actual FG: 1011
ABV: 4.7%

#28 NSSA (Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale)

2010-01-08T15:58:00.002+10:00

Brewed: 2nd January, 2010

First brew of the new year! This is for my sister's birthday party in a few weeks time and is the seventh batch in the series of Summer Ales I am brewing. This time, I tried using malted wheat instead of unmalted torrified wheat. If anything, I expect the body of this one to be slightly thinner in comparison to the summer ales I've made with torrified wheat.

The brewday went well with most of my targets within acceptable ranges. I actually had an extra litre of sweet wort from my second sparge runnings, which I intentionally left out of the boil, as I wanted to see what the gravity of the remaining liquid was out of interest. It was a bit of an eye opener to me to see that the gravity was 1019; a lot less than the rest of the wort in the kettle at 1042, so it was probably a good thing that I stopped when I did, because otherwise it would have brought my pre-boil gravity down without significantly contributing to the malt level.

I went with a 60 minute bittering addition again (as opposed to 80 minutes in the original recipe) to play it safe for the party. I still haven't done a blind side-by-side tasting to see if it makes much of a difference, though I've got that planned for the near future and will report back here.

The recipe:

JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Wheat Malt: 400g

Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -60 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @-20 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 20g @ -5 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 25g in no-chill cube

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 64C End: 62.5C

Runoff: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1042
Boil time: 90 mins

Target OG: 1052 Actual: 1048

Volume in fermenter: 21.5L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #26 XMAS)
Ferment temperature: 19C

#29 OPA (Oz Pale Ale)

2010-01-08T15:31:00.004+10:00

Brewed: 7th January, 2010
Time to catch up on a few recipes!

I brewed this one for a friend's party at the end of the month, and I've still got one more to do for that party so I'll be cutting it fine. On the plus side, if it comes out any good, I'll can take a few samples of it to enter into the first club competition of the year in February where the styles contended are Australian Pale Ale and English Bitters.

I've brewed the recipe a couple of times before. It's a pretty easy drinking pale ale; not over hopped and fairly dry. Think of a slightly lighter Coopers Pale Ale.

The previous times I've made this recipe, I've been a little unhappy with a sulphur taste that was present in the bottles. I think I've since narrowed that down to the old bottle cleaner I was using (sodium metabisulphate), so I'll be interested to see if my current cleaner (iodophor) leaves the beer tasting, well, cleaner. I also noticed when looking at the previous two batches that I made, I added double the amount of hops that was required (copy & paste mistake), so perhaps that had an impact on the undesirable flavour as well. Mind you, it didn't appear to be over-bitter so here's hoping this one comes out bitter enough.

The original recipe calls for 95% Australian ale malt and 5% wheat malt, but because I didn't have enough ale malt, I ended up substituting the missing amount with Australian pils malt. Aside from that lapse in preparation, the brew day went very well with most of the numbers falling well into place.

Actually, just as I write this, I'm thinking that perhaps I should have boiled for longer to account for the pils malt in the bill. I've seen in passing a number of references to doing a 90 minute boil for pils malt, but I'm not sure if that's more for doing lagers, or because of the malt itself. It's something I'll need to look up on for the future.

The recipe (based on this one):

JW Pale Malt: 2700g
Aus Pils Malt: 1100g
Wheat Malt: 200g

Pride of Ringwood flowers (9.6% AA): 10g @ 60 mins
Pride of Ringwood pellets (8.3% AA): 15g @ 45 mins

Mash time: 60 mins
Target mash temperature: 65C
Start: 65C Middle: 63.5C End: 62.5C

Runoff: 26L

Pre-boil SG: 1037
Boil time: 60 minutes

Target OG: 1043
Actual OG: 1042

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale tasting

2009-12-11T16:44:00.004+10:00

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was one of the original beers in the American microbrewery revolution of the late 70's. It's one that is often talked about on home brewing forums and beer appreciation sites, and is said to encapsulate the American Pale Ale style.

Despite the warnings about it not traveling well, when I saw it on the beer menu at Brisbane's Era Bistro, I knew I had to give it a go.

The warnings refer to the degradation of the aroma and flavour on the long trip over from California. I've even heard that Australian exports of the beer come via Europe, adding to the length of the journey. Bright hop aromatics fade over time and at increased temperatures, and when you consider that the beer could have been sitting in a container or warehouse for who knows how long on its trip over, the warnings are understandable. But it didn't stop me from ordering one.

It is difficult to evaluate a beer that comes with so many preconceptions. The hop aromatics were still there, although I could easily imagine them being less subdued in the fresh product. I can't remember a lot of the malt characteristics that are said to be present, though I wasn't taking detailed notes at the time (after all, this was a night of a work milestone celebration). I do, however, remember making comparisons in my head to Little Creatures Pale Ale at the time; an American Pale Ale style of beer that is said to be a tribute to SNPA.

Overall, I wasn't disappointed, and am still excited to have had the chance to try it. If anything, it has made me want to go over to the US and find out just how good the beer is fresh, and how good a job Little Creatures have done in paying tribute to the style.

#22 GxSA (Galaxy Summer Ale)

2009-12-04T18:13:00.005+10:00

Brewed: 12th November, 2009

The fourth batch in the Summer Ale series, this time using Galaxy hops instead of Nelson Sauvin.

I tried a slightly different technique of filling my mash tun this time, called underletting. This involves dumping all of the grain into the mash tun and filling it from the bottom up through the outlet. The aim of this was to see if I could saturate the grain properly and hit my mash temperature without having to stir the mash as much. The result I ended up with though was even more inconsistent temperatures throughout the mash (requiring more stirring!) and still coming in slightly under the mash temperature despite the fact that it was way over temperature before I started mixing in properly! Oh well, something learned for next time.

Part way through my first runnings, I realised that I made the silly mistake of not attaching the tap to the kettle. All of a sudden I was wondering what the dripping noise on the floor was! Luckily I was standing next to the kettle at the time and didn't lose too much sweet wort. The spills didn't end there though, as with a higher than expected post-boil volume, I overflowed the "no-chill" cube after the boil. In the future, I plan to use a brewday checklist and actually tick things off instead of relying on my memory to consult the checklist that's on the fridge in the brewing area.

In terms of numbers, I didn't lose as much temperature over the hour compared to last time (1 degree instead of 2). My first runnings were slightly under, which I made up for my adding an extra litre of water to the second sparge. My pre and post boil gravity readings were also a point lower, but well within my expectations.

The recipe:

JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 12g @ -80 mins
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 12g @-20 mins
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 16g @ -5 mins
Galaxy pellets (13.4% AA): 23g in no-chill cube

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 63.5C
Middle: 63C
End: 62.5C

Run-off: 30L

Pre-boil SG: 1038
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Volume in fermenter: 21L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #20 NSSA)
Ferment temperature: 19C

Target OG: 1052
Actual OG: 1046

Actual FG: 1012

ABV: 4.5%

Work experience at MT Brewery

2009-12-04T16:24:00.003+10:00

One day a week for the past few weeks, I've been heading down to MT Beer on Mount Tamborine to lend a hand to the head brewer, Ian Watson, in the day-to-day operations at the brewery. It is part of my on-going quest to discover the gaps in my knowledge about working in a commercial brewery so that I know where to focus my efforts in going forward.

So far I have been involved in cleaning and filling kegs and transferring beer to/from various vessels. Last week, I was there to help out with brewing the latest batch of Blonde, including what I imagine would be the least pleasant job, which was to empty the several-hundred kilograms of spent grain from the lauter tun. I guess I didn't mind so much at the time because it is all still new to me! It is interesting to see the similarities and differences between home and commercial brewing, where the latter in this case is approximately 100 times the volume. So far, most of my focus has been on the process side of things as opposed to the business side that I know I'll need to start looking into soon.

The days start much earlier than I'm used to, but it has definitely been worth it. Getting feedback on my own beers throughout the day makes it even easier and more valuable to me (though you certainly have to go easy on it given the lack of commuting options)!

Next week Ian is planning to do a bottling run while I'm there, which will fill in yet another piece of the puzzle for me.

#21 RP (Robust Porter - Chocolate Jaffa Porter)

2009-11-13T14:56:00.002+10:00

Brewed: 5th November, 2009

This was a variation of a Chocolate Porter that I made a few months ago. The original recipe turned out really well and a suggestion was made about the possibility of a choc-orange taste, which is where this brew idea came from. I'm going for more a citrus taste as opposed to straight up orange, but depending on how this one goes, some orange essence may be called up in the future. I'm using Cascade hops for flavour and aroma in this case to try to achieve the citrus notes. I also want to do a choc-vanilla take on this recipe one day, using vanilla beans for the flavour.

As far as the brew day went, it was reasonably uneventful. I did forget to close the tap on the mash tun after draining it the first time, which resulted in a bit of leakage when I went to fill it up the second time, but I caught it pretty quickly. I hit the mash temperature spot on and held it well over the hour.

An interesting thing I noted was that when I poured the wort into the primary fermenter, it didn't froth up at all (unlike nearly every other batch does). It corresponds a bit to the way the previous batch of chocolate porter is pouring out of the tap; ie. very little head on it. Remembering back to what food oils do to a head on a beer (transferred to the glass after eating such food), I put the lack of froth and head down to the fat content of the cocoa powder used in the recipe.

The recipe (based on this one):

JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Light Munich: 1000g
Crystal 135: 500g
Carafa Special II: 200g
Chocolate Malt: 200g
Roast Barley: 100g
Cocoa powder: 100g (added to boil @ -5 mins)

East Kent Goldings pellets (4.8% AA): 48g @ -45 mins
Cascade pellets (6.3% AA): 19g @ -10 mins
Cascade pellets (6.3% AA): 10g in no-chill cube

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 68C
Start: 68C
Middle: 67.5C
End: 67.5C

Run-off: 30L

Target pre-boil SG: 1046
Actual Pre-boil SG: 1050
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Volume in fermenter: 23L
Yeast: Re-cultured Coopers Stout yeast (farmed from #19 MS)
Ferment temperature: 18C

Target OG: 1057
Actual OG: 1055

#20 NSSA (Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale)

2009-11-02T16:12:00.003+10:00

Brewed: 29th October, 2009

This was the third batch in the series of Summer Ales I'm doing with slight tweaks between each recipe. Today, I only boiled the bittering hops for the last 60 minutes instead of the 80 minutes previously. This should have the effect of producing a slightly less bitter beer. I'll do a side-by-side taste when this one is ready to see if I can notice the difference. If not, I might try a 45 minute bittering addition some time in the future.

The brew-day was fairly uneventful for this one. I was slightly under the mash temperature target, but I only lost 2 degrees instead of the 3 I lost in the last batch. In hindsight, I could have added some boiling water at the start of the mash to bring it up to my target temperature, but I guess I didn't worry about it at the time because it was only half a degree off. I had slightly better efficiency, which I think would have been even higher if I had both elements running when heating up the kettle (the variable dial on one of the elements was off even though it looked like it was on). In all, there were no surprises, and no stuff ups so I certainly can't complain.

The next day, I transferred it to primary and pitched the yeast. This was sooner than the last two batches (two days for #18 and 3 days for #20) and adds another variable, as the cube hop addition wasn't in for as long, but I don't think it'll have much of an impact. I also decided to save the cube hops for a future batch of this recipe to see if they have enough bittering capacity left in them (I got the idea from this thread on AHB).

The recipe (based on this one):

JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -60 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @-20 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 20g @ -5 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 25g in no-chill cube

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 64C
Start: 63.5C
Middle: 62.5C
End: 61.5C

Run-off: 29.5L

Pre-boil SG: 1039
Boil Time: 90 minutes

Volume in fermenter: 21L
Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale (harvested from #18 NSSA)
Ferment temperature: 19C

Target OG: 1050
Actual OG: 1047

#19 Milk Stout

2009-10-24T10:45:00.000+10:00

Brewed: 22nd October, 2009

I had some different issues with my mash temperature for this brew. I lost more than normal from my strike temperature, but didn't lose as much as I normally do over the hour. It doesn't bode well for my consistency.

I was a bit suspicious that my thermometer was out, but I tested it at freezing and boiling and it seems to be correct at the extremes. I still have to do a comparison with some accurate thermometers around the mash temperature to be sure, but at the moment, I'm reasonably confident that it is not my thermometer. Maybe the different type of grains had a role in absorbing more temperature?

I also underestimated the sparge water required and came out about a litre under my pre-boil volume. That ended up working out in my favour though, because I had overestimated the boil loss and ended up with my target volume in the end. The original gravity came in close enough too and probably would have been too low if I had the extra litre or so there.

Finally, I'll need to remember to wear my glasses more in the future! I was splashed in the eye with hot water when filling the mash tun, which wasn't a pleasant experience.

The recipe (based on this one):

JW Pale Malt: 3175g
Carafa Special II: 450g
Crystal 135: 225g
Carapils: 225g
Roast: 225g

Perle (8.3% AA): 30g @ -60 minutes
Lactose: 500g @ -5 minutes

Mash time: 60 minutes
Target mash temperature: 70C
Start temp: 68C
Middle temp: 67.5C
End temp: 67.5C

Expected run-off: 26L
Actual run-off: 25L

Boil time: 60 minutes

Target volume: 19L
Actual volume: 19L
Target OG: 1056
Actual OG: 1053

Yeast: Coopers stout yeast, harvested from #17 Dark Ale
Ferment temperature: 18C

QABC result feedback

2009-10-23T12:26:00.004+10:00

A couple of months ago, I entered my Winter Ale (recipe coming soon) into the Queensland Amateur Brewers Competition. It was the first time I have ever entered a beer in any competition, so it was a completely new experience for me.

The beer was entered under the Northern English Brown Ale style of the Brown Ale category, a decision that was made the night before with my trusty tasting partner, who helped me realise that it wasn't going to fit under the original style I was thinking of. I was really glad that I made the switch, as these competitions are so much about entering under the correct style so that the beer can be matched up with the guidelines.

The results were published about a month ago, but it was only last night at the Brisbane Amateur Beer Brewers club meeting that I received the score-sheets with feedback.

It's very interesting to see the comments by the two judges side-by-side, and it made me realise just how much of the score comes down to luck of the draw with the judges. I'm not saying that the results are completely down to luck - you obviously need a good beer to do well - but a few points can mean the difference between placing and not placing. The difference is understandable too; no matter how much objectivity they try to put into the judging process, at the end of the day, the range of ability to discern different flavours & aromas can vary quite a bit between people.

Also interesting to note that the main flaw I thought the beer had (too much diacetyl) wasn't mentioned at all in the comments. Maybe it was within the style limits after all.

Aroma
Judge 1: 6/12
Very low aroma. Cannot detect any malt character at all. No faults detected either.

Judge 2: 8/12
Lovely light fruit hops, caramel also comes through.

Appearance
Judge 1: 3/3
Good colour, clarity for style. Head is moderate and stable.

Judge 2: 3/3
Nice head retention. Lovely carbonation billowing up the glass. Good amber colour to style.

Flavour
Judge 1: 14/20
Well balanced beer, needs a touch more malt complexity for style. Increase nutty by adding chocolate malt etc. Low fruitiness from yeast - good. Hops & after taste reserved.

Judge 2: 15/20
Malt sweetness good. The hop flavour & bitterness levels are within style.

Mouthfeel
Judge 1: 4/5
Medium body good for style, slight warming sensation ? higher end of alcohol scale.

Judge 2: 3/5
Carbonation level to style. Nice dry finish to style.

Overall Impression
Judge 1: 7/10
Good easy to drink beer. Not enough aroma character with more malt complexity required for style.

Judge 2: 6/10
An overall good attempt at style. Nutty & dry finish. Well done.

The combined result for the beer was 34.5/50, and it was beaten by three other beers in the category (with scores of 39.5, 36.5 and 36) amongst 15 entries in total.

I remain extremely happy with the result, and I look forward to entering more beers in the BABBs mini-comps for more feedback in the lead up to next year's QABC.

Brewday pics

2009-10-19T18:15:00.002+10:00

Here's a few snaps from my last brewday.

Weighing out the grain:

Getting ready to mill:

Roughly 500 turns of the handle later:

Grain close-ups
Before:

After:

Note that the idea of milling the grain is not to completely pulverise it, but rather crack it and crush it enough to allow water to mix with the dry content of the grain. In the above photo, you might still be able to see some of the larger husks in tact. This husk aids in filtering grain particles when running the wort out of the mash tun.

Speaking of which, my mash tun:

The mash tun is the vessel in which the grain is mixed with heated water and left for a period of time. During this time, enzymes present in the grain break down the starches in to simpler sugars that can be later fermented by the yeast. By adjusting the temperature, you can adjust the kind of sugars that are produced, which in turn impacts the body of the resulting beer. Higher mash temperatures will produce less fermentable sugars and result in a fuller bodied beer, whereas lower temperatures will produce more fermentable sugars (easier for the yeast to convert) and result in a drier beer.

Inside the mash tun:

I have stainless-steel braided mesh to prevent larger grain particles from going through the tap, which in turn eventually stops the smaller particles from going through.

An hour after adding the crushed grain and water to the mash tun:

Collecting the start of the wort, waiting for the liquid to be visibly clear of grain particles:

Grain particles add tannins to the beer if they are boiled with the wort, which results in an astringent taste. This is why we want to wait until the liquid is clear before transferring to the kettle.

Inside the empty kettle:

Mash tun as it is being drained into the kettle:

Mash tun at the end of draining:

See how the grain particles have all compacted together, creating that natural filter for the wort to flow through without taking the particles with it.

After draining the mash tun, it is topped up with water again, left to settle, and drained for a second time to extract more of the converted sugars. This particular procedure is called batch sparging, and although it is not the only sparging method available to brewers, it is one of the simplest and requires the least equipment.

Weighing out the different hop additions:

The hops above are hop flowers that have been compacted into pellet form.

Hops are added to the kettle at different times during the boil. Earlier additions (boiled for 80-30ish minutes) are generally used for bittering the beer. Flavour additions are generally added between roughly 30-10 minutes before the end of the boil, and aroma additions are added in the last 10 minutes, or even after the boil has finished. The longer the hops are boiled for, the more flavour and aroma is driven off from the wort, hence the different timings.

The liquid yeast I used for this brew:

Once the boil has finished, the hopped wort is drained from the kettle and cooled down to fermenting temps (for the case of ales, around 20°C). Once at fermenting temperature, the yeast is added, or "pitched" to the hopped wort, and begins converting the sugars into alcohol. Three weeks later and with a little luck, I'll be pulling the first beer from this batch out of the keg!

#18 NSSA (Nelson Sauvin Summer Ale)

2009-10-15T16:33:00.004+10:00

I did my 18th all-grain batch today. It is the second in a series of brews that I will be doing based on Ross' Summer Ale recipe, where I will be changing one variable at a time. In this batch, I am using a different, higher quality, yeast strain and trying to keep everything else the same.

Unfortunately, I've already had a couple of other differences. First of all, the mash lost three degrees over the hour instead of 1 degree the first time. It may have been because I started a lot earlier today when it was much cooler in the brewery. Next time, I'll try to compensate for that by heating up the mash tun before I add the grain so that I don't lose as much heat to the vessel while it warms up.

Secondly, I had an extra litre of wort into the kettle compared to last time. It was looking a bit thin towards the end, and I nearly stopped it early, but I didn't realise that I only took 29 litres last time. My original gravity is down too, which I suspect is at least partly from the extra volume. Last time my original gravity was over the expected gravity by two points.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to tasting the results of this batch with the different yeast, and to reusing the yeast for subsequent batches. I've got the yeast getting ready in a small starter now that I hope to step up tonight and pitch tomorrow.

Here's the recipe:
JW Pale Malt: 4500g
Torrified Wheat: 400g

Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -80 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 15g @ -20 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 20g @ -5 mins
Nelson Sauvin pellets (11.5% AA): 25g in no-chill cube

Mash Time: 60 minutes
Mash Temperature
Start: 64.5C
Middle: 63.5C
End: 61.5C

Run-off: 30L

Boil Time: 90 minutes

Yeast: WLP001 - California Ale
Ferment temperature: 19C

Target OG: 1050
Actual OG: 1046

Day one on my new career path

2009-10-12T20:48:00.003+10:00

As I alluded to a couple of posts back, I've been spending a lot more time this year on a rediscovered passion of mine, so much so, that I have decided to pursue it as a career. And that passion is brewing beer.

I began making beer with my father when I was at university, and continued doing so throughout the remainder of uni and my first career as a software developer. I use the term "making beer", as we were using pre-brewed, concentrated kits and fermenting it from there. This year, I made the switch to all grain beer, which actually involves mashing and brewing the grain and hops as well as fermenting the resulting wort. The all grain method is a lot more time consuming, but you have much more control over the results and you can make beers that are at least as good as a lot of micro-brewery beer.

The task now is to find out how to scale this method up to a commercial level. Whilst I've already done a bit of preliminary research towards this goal, today was my first real day working directly towards it.

Like any first day on the job, there were a lot of unknowns in front of me. My first port of call is to try to line up some work in the industry so I can gain some experience. While there's not a whole lot of opportunities around in Brisbane, I'm confident that I'll be able to find somewhere to get started.

Today I also discovered the brewing courses offered by the University of Ballarat. They have a short course as well as a Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma, which is something else to look into. The short course certainly looks like something I'd be keen to do, but I'm told that it isn't being held again until mid next year.

J Walker @ The Queensland Art Gallery August 14th

2009-08-25T21:00:00.000+10:00

The other week, we went to see J Walker of Machine Translations playing as part of The Met Up Late. On show at the Queensland Art Gallery was the American Impressionism & Realism exhibit. I don't know a lot about physical art mediums, so I can't really comment on much of the exhibit itself.

However, I do know a bit about Machine Translations, and I was very happy to hear a number of tunes from J's back catalogue tonight.

Having just said that, I have to admit to not recognising the first song of the set, which was performed by building up upon layers of acoustic guitar loops. I'm not sure if it was from the latest album (which I haven't listened to enough yet) or if it was something else.

From there, he moved on to a slightly different take on Misunderstood, which was played to a more swung beat. I'd had this song in my head a couple of days earlier and it took a while for me to realise what it was when he started playing it. She Wears A Mask followed, which for the first time that I can recall, I actually heard a lot of the words. Not that they had been a mystery that I'd wanted to solve for a long time, but it was interesting to hear a bit of what the otherwise catchy song is about.

Two more of my favourite Machine Translations songs were up next; Not My Fall (including the whistling solo, which he wasn't too happy with but I thought sounded alright) and Amnesia. Unfortunately we're still waiting for him to bring back Simple Life into his set, which we always get our hopes up for each time we see him.

The rest of the set included a Leonard Cohen cover (with more whistling), and a couple of other songs that featured crescendo building noise collages with the help of the loop pedal. Finally, he opened up the tuning on his guitar for what I think was You'll Change (though my memory is starting to fail me now, so don't quote me on that).

The gig happened right in the middle of a very busy week for us, but it ended up being an unusually relaxing and enjoyable night. It was also an early night for us, which was an added bonus!

A change to the (ir)regular programming

2009-08-25T20:45:00.006+10:00

As anyone who may still be following this space may have guessed, there hasn't been a lot happening for me on the music scene this year. While there have been some exceptions (notably Gomez, The Black Keys, Ben Kweller, David McCormack and Paul Dempsey), I haven't really been out to see as much live music, and when I have, I haven't been able to make the time to write about it.

I have, on the other hand, been taking many notes on what is taking up a lot of my time these days, which is probably where my writing here will be heading shortly.

In the meantime though, here's something for old time's sake...

Emiliana Torrini @ The Powerhouse November 16th

2008-11-30T21:12:00.005+10:00

We went down to the Powerhouse right after the first of the heavy storms to hit the South East Queensland area that night. We arrived with enough time to get a great carpark and enjoy some more of the rain on the back deck with a couple of drinks. Inside the main Powerhouse Theatre, you wouldn't have had any clue about what was happening outside, owing to the great acoustics of the place. It was nice to go to a sit-down event for a change, especially given that we were on the tail end of a pretty big weekend.

Supporting the night was Sydney quartet, Charge Group. I couldn't help thinking of The Dirty Three when I was listening to them, most probably because of how the violin influenced the sound. Whilst I didn't feel that the vocals really fit in with the music, and I thought the stage presence was lacking a bit between songs, it didn't stop me from taking a liking to the music.

After intermission and a slightly extended period of waiting, Emiliana Torrini made her way to the stage with her "Mötley Crüe" of a backing band. The delay was explained by the fact that she was pre-empting a possible wardrobe malfunction and needed to find another dress to replace the one that turned out to be partially transparent under the stage lights!

The set was mainly drawn from her most recent two albums and she sounded genuinely surprised to hear requests from the first album. The exaggerated dynamic tempo of Heartstopper was executed very well, and it was great to hear a live version of Sunny Road - the song that drew me to her music to begin with. I had only gotten around to buying her latest album on the night, but I loved what I heard from it, especially Gun, Ha-Ha and Fireheads. The rest of the songs, including Lifesaver, Fisherman's Woman, Big Jumps, Me And Armini, Heard It All Before, Jungle Drum, and many more that I've since forgotten, were just as enjoyable.

In contrast to Charge Group, Torrini was very chatty between songs, often regaling the audience with personal and humourous stories about her life, her music writing, the band and whatever happened to find its way into her head at the time.

The earlier reference to the band was made literally by her when commenting about the guitar swapping that was going on between some of the songs, but the band really were the most unlikely looking group I have seen in a while. They certainly proved that looks can be deceiving though by providing a great musical platform of electric/acoustic/slide guitars, electric piano, keyboards, melodica, glockenspiel, drums and other percussion, upon which Torrini delivered her vocals. Bass guitar was absent from most songs, but it didn't feel like it wasn't missed.

I think the exhaustion from the flight on the way over to Australia really caught up with Torrini by the end of the night, as she struggled to recall lyrics and keep a straight face through the encore, but it wasn't to the detriment of the entertainment value of the performance. In all, another wonderful night of music!

Gigs update 2008/11/30

2008-11-30T18:55:00.001+10:00

New gigs listed, including The Zillions, Darren Hanlon, Camille, José González, and a brilliant double-header of The Black Keys and Gomez!

The Dandy Warhols @ The Tivoli November 5th

2008-11-25T20:00:00.002+10:00

Time for a bit of catching up! It was a rainy Wednesday night that we found ourselves on when The Dandy Warhols came to town. Due to a late meal on our behalf and an early starting time on the Tivoli's, we missed all but the last song of the support act, Downhills Home.

Before long, The Dandy Warhols made their way to the stage with very little fanfare and took up their instruments. Some may recognise the date of this gig as the day the US presidential election result was known, and consequently, the band dedicated the entire gig to Obama's victory. With that out of the way, they began their epic set, which consisted of a mix of songs from their latest album, Earth To The Dandy Warhols, interspersed with "hit after hit after hit" from their back-catalog. The hits certainly seemed to be among the crowd highlights for the evening, and included the likes of Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth, You Were The Last High, We Used To Be Friends, Get Off, All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey, Boys Better, and Bohemian Like You. The only notable absense I could think of was Every Day Should Be A Holiday.

Even though the lighting didn't highlight much of the band, it seemed to suit the set and music quite well. The sound was great from where were standing and I was very impressed with how Zia McCabe's synths more than made up for the bass-less lineup. Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Peter Holmström made great use of a variety of guitars and effects, adding but not deviating too far from the recorded sound of the songs. It was also interesting to see the straight-line formation of the band, with Brent DeBoer on drums sharing the front of the stage with the others, often chiming in on backing vocals to Taylor-Taylor's dual microphone lead vocal setup.

The highlight of the two-hour plus set for me, among the guitar drone trademark sounds of their slower songs, was hearing I Love You from their Come Down album. I have to say it was also a relief to leave the venue at the end of the evening, as the sold-out crowd combined with the downpour outside had pushed the Tivoli's air conditioning to its limits.

Gigs update 2008/10/13

2008-10-13T20:10:00.002+10:00

Adding to yesterday's list, today I found out that Emiliana Torrini is playing at The Powerhouse in November and Fleet Foxes will be at The Tivoli in January. Details here.

Gigs update 2008/10/12

2008-10-12T21:11:00.001+10:00

The gig page has been updated with dates for The Panics, The John Steel Singers, Bob Evans and The Mountain Goats.

Supergrass @ The Tivoli October 2nd

2008-10-07T21:01:00.002+10:00

Despite arriving after the initial crowd rush at the Tivoli, we managed to find an empty spot upstairs on the balcony to take in tonight's performances. I don't usually find myself upstairs because the good spots are usually filled by the time we get in, but tonight was a pleasant change and surprise.

Cloud Control were an interesting choice as a support act. To me, they lacked some of the confidence I would have expected of a band that were supporting the likes of Supergrass. At times, the performing wasn't as tight as it could have been for their sound, and they were a bit awkward when it came to addressing the crowd (neglecting to mention their name until one of the last songs). Having said all that, the music was generally interesting with hints of pop among the low-fi indie sound, and I really enjoyed some of the hypnotic parts of their set.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Supergrass, as I hadn't seen them play live before and don't have a lot of their back catalogue. So it was brilliant to see and hear them come out with the infectious energy that they had. From the first song all the way through to the end of the encore, it was difficult not to want to move along with the sounds of their music.

Most of the set was played in their current formation as a five piece, but for a few selected songs, they stripped back to the three and four piece incarnations. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to affect the completeness of the sound at all. There were a number of songs where I thought the absence of the rhythm guitar or keyboards would have been noticeable, but I had clearly underestimated Gaz Coombes' impressive guitar work.

Speaking of impressive, the light show tonight was the best I'd seen for a while. I assume they brought their own lighting personel with them on the tour, because the design and execution were spot on (no pun intended!).

Highlights of the set for me were definitely Mary and Moving. I don't recall them playing anything off their Life On Other Planets album (the only other album I have), and don't know enough to fill in much of the rest of set list with the exceptions of Pumping On Your Stereo, Caught By The Fuzz and Strange Ones (I think!). However, that didn't affect my enjoyment of the set one bit.

Gigs update 2008/09/07

2008-09-07T13:17:00.003+10:00

A few gigs have appeared on the radar, including Martha Wainwright, David McCormack, Misinterprotato and Pinky Beecroft. The program for The Valley Fiesta has also been put out, and Friday night and Sunday looks like a go-er for us.

I'm just listening to some of Martha's new album from her website, which combined with my memories of seeing her last time she was out, should make for a good night. Pinky's up-coming show is the first gig I think I've ever seen with BYO alcohol advertised - that'll be an interesting night! And I'm really looking forward to seeing David back at Ric's again - I always have fond memories of that combination.

Somethin' Somewhere Better

2008-08-16T10:11:00.004+10:00

After what must have been a favourable review I wrote of a recent gig, I was lucky enough to be offered a pre-release copy of the debut album from Pinky Beecroft's latest project; The White Russians. Earlier this week, as promised, I received my very own copy of Somethin' Somewhere Better in the mail!

Listening to the album all the way through for the first time brought back a lot of great memories from the gig. Despite only having heard most of the songs for the first time that night, I was surprised at just how many I recalled when listening to the album. It certainly says something for the catchyness of the lyrics & music. The second listen gave me a feeling of being at an intimate show - such is the way the songs are recorded and produced on this album.

Lyrically, Beecroft tends to fall on the story-telling side of the song writing fence, capturing tales in the likes of Scarlett, Floor, and Someone For Everyone. There's also quirkiness in the words, not unlike David McCormack and early Whitlams, with gems such as:

'Woke up with nothing to do/thought that I'd try shoplifting' (Scarlett)
'I might not be so good in bed/but I'm alright on the floor' (Floor)
'This hangover brings the sunshine to the Goths' (This Hangover)

The album is nicely balanced out with the more serious/melancholy stylings of Sunflowers, Unsent Letter, and the beautiful Fabulous Driving.

Just as it was live, Nick Stewart's guitar sound is quite distinctive and recognisable throughout the album, while Christian McBride and Ben T provide a solid framework of drums and bass that the rest of the sound is built upon. The keyboards on the album add presence, even though they don't feature as much as I thought they might. However, if I'm not mistaken, I think that's guest keyboardist Cameron Bruce adding his flair to This Song Has Only Got Happy Words. There are also great full band jam outs at the end of Sunflowers and My Haircut Will Come Back Around.

It was great to hear Bernie Hayes again after such a long time. He and Athron and sing backing vocals on I Will Tear It Down To Make You Happy, with Hayes also featuring on Someone For Everyone, and Unsent Letter. Other guest appearances include Marc Malouf (guitar), Ken Folan (bass), and James Thornhill on bagpipes at the end of This Song Has Only Got Happy Words.

The album is due out in a week (August 23rd) on Gigpiglet Recordings, distributed by Inertia. There's also a south-east coast tour to support it, which sees the guys return to Brisbane on September 19th. Thanks to Will from heapsaflash for the CD!

Gigs update 2008/08/10

2008-08-10T15:37:00.003+10:00

It's been a while, but my upcoming gigs page has been updated. I'm very excited to hear that The Dandy Warhols will be touring in November. I haven't picked up their latest release yet, but I'm a big fan of their back catalog, and am looking forward to seeing them play live for the first time. Another band I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing live yet is Supergrass, who will be here in October. Tickets for both of these gigs go on sale this Thursday.

Also added is The Grates, Holly Throsby, and Jebediah. Three other acts whose music I've enjoyed for a while now but haven't got around to seeing yet. Unfortunately, Jebediah will have to wait another time for me, as I'm already booked that night.

Cold War Kids @ The Tivoli August 3rd

2008-08-10T12:53:00.005+10:00

There was something about tonight's support band, Delta Spirit, that I just couldn't get into. The style of music, while not too far removed from Cold War Kids, was a little bit country for me (the flannel shirts didn't do anything to help this image). It was definitely on the rock side of country, but twangy none the less ('tractor rock' is probably the term I would use if pushed for a description). The yelling that was used to sing loudly in the upper registers was also a bit of turn off for me. Based on the crowd's enthusiastic response though, I was definitely in the minority, and whilst they certainly weren't my cup of tea, I felt happy for them to get that response on their first outing to Australia.

The Cold War Kids also suffered a bit in my book for the amount of yelling that seemed to be going on. I certainly don't remember Nathan Willet sounding like he was struggling reach those high notes when they were out here last year. I can't help but think about how unsustainable it would be in the long run. While I'm getting the criticisms out of the way, I also have to say that the drums sounded pretty dull and muffled tonight (nothing to do with how they were played, just how they were mixed).

Having said all that, the other aspects of the performance were great! They opened the set in hushed tones, playing all the way through Pregnant before the lights were turned up and they went into We Used To Vacation, much to the thrill of the crowd. A number of new songs were featured in the set, which received good responses. Played live, the songs were similar in the style of those off Robbers & Cowards, although I've heard that the recorded versions are a bit more produced. I'm looking forward to hearing for myself when the new album is released later this year.

During Robbers, the lights on stage went out again with Willet reversing the roles by shining a torch into the audience while singing the song. The set also featured Tell Me In The Morning and God, Make Up Your Mind before drawing near the end when Hang Me Out To Dry predictably set the crowd off. They closed the set with Hospital Beds, which also went down very well. The encore was short and sweet, and ended with the members from Delta Spirit joining the band on improvised percussion duties for Saint John.

The Polyphonic Spree @ The Tivoli July 31st

2008-08-04T21:00:00.005+10:00

Supporting the tour that finished up in Brisbane tonight was local six-piece, The John Steel Singers. Aside from recognising the name, I didn't know much else about them, but I was soon to be impressed with their catchy rhythms. Instrumentally, the band was quite polished and interesting throughout the set. The vocals were a bit hit and miss to start with and the sound technically wasn't as balanced as it could have been, however, I quickly put that down to the fact that their mix was probably set up for the main act tonight and not suitable for such a "relatively small" band. The line-up included two keyboards, two guitars, bass & drums with the keyboardists taking on trumpet, trombone, kazoo and guitar duties where necessary. I recognised their song Strawberry Wine from Triple J's play list, which has always reminded me a bit of Spoon's Sister Jack. I also love a band that plays songs involving their guitarists on the ground controlling the droning of their guitars with their effects pedals. I picked up their The Beagle And The Dove EP, which includes most, if not all, of the songs they featured in their set.

During the break, we took up a better position near the sound desk. I remember looking over and thinking that this must be one of the rare occasions that most of the 48 channels of the The Tivoli's mixing desk were being utilised for a single band! While I was distracted with watching the sound guy prepare, the venue opened up the upstairs balcony, which was good to see given how sparse the crowd looked at the start of the night.

I'd been told before hand to keep an eye out for the special opening scene. The band were setup behind a two metre high red cloth that spanned the width of the stage. To the sound of plucking harp strings, a pair of scissors started making their way from behind, through the centre of the cloth in the shape of a large heart. The scissors then cut closer and closer to the top until the last snip cut the cloth in two, signaling the twenty-two piece group to blast in to the opening bars of Running Away as the vision of bright white lights pointed towards the audience brought the show to life. This display of theatrics set the scene for what was an amazing musical experience.

All of the band members, including vocalists, strings, horns, guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion, flute, and front man, Tim Delaughter, were dressed in the black uniform featured on their latest album, The Fragile Army. The main set list included mainly songs from that album plus a couple from their first, including Hanging Around The Day, Get Up And Go, It's The Sun. They also threw in a brilliant cover of Paul McCartney's Live And Let Die, complete with the shrieking piccolo part in the instrumental section. They finished the main set with the closing track, The Championship, which literally faded out as band members gradually left the stage while Tim got the crowd singing along to the outro of the song. Once all the band except Tim and the harpist had left the stage, Tim said good night and left us singing along with the harp player, who kept us going for another half a minute or so before leaving the stage himself.

Through the applause of the crowd cheering for more, the band now dressed in their more familiar robes reappeared at the side entrance of The Tivoli, and weaved their way through the crowd back towards the stage. Accompanied by the sounds of Together We're Heavy, each member picked up their part in the song as they got to the stage and found their position. Then they proceeded to play an encore that was almost as long as the main set! The encore was made up of songs mostly from the first two albums, including Hold Me Now, Light And Day and Soldier Girl, and also featured a cover of Nirvana's Lithium. During When The Fool Becomes A King, the theatrics continued, with the band completely freezing in position at one point in the song. The keyboards kept a few notes going, but the rest of the band remained frozen in position while Tim walked around the stage, occasionally tapping the odd instrument and just generally leaving the audience wondering what he was going to do next. He finally brought the band back to life (after what must have been five minutes) and started to draw the night to a close after that.

After one or two more songs, the band remained on stage for the curtain call at the end. Tim had spent a lot of the evening interacting with the crowd and it seemed that he didn't want to stop! This included his farewell speech that encouraged all of us to go to the merch stand in order to fund their visit. You can understand why a band this size would need all the help they can get when you consider that the cost of the tickets for this gig was the same as you would normally pay for to see a four piece band at the same venue.

In all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining night, and I would recommend anyone who hasn't seen them yet to do so if they get the opportunity.

Angie Hart and David McCormack @ The Troubadour 25th July

2008-08-03T16:35:00.008+10:00

Another night back at The Troubadour. By all the Custard t-shirt sightings, it looked like there was one guy that most of the crowd were here to see tonight. But first up was local singer/guitarist Kristy London, playing one of her last gigs before heading off to London. Backed by another acoustic guitarist, Kristy played a great warm up set of folk/pop songs. My memory of her set is fading a week on, but I remember thinking at the time that it was well suited to the venue and the evening.

Playing in the surprising position of second tonight was home-town favourite, David 'Davo' McCormack on the acoustic guitar. Accompanied by a foot-controlled electronic hand clapper, he opened the set with a cover of Since She Started To Ride, a song I fondly remember hearing Custard cover on Super Request many years ago. David used the clapper at the end of most of his songs to help the crowd with their round of applause, to great comedic effect :-)

After a couple of early Custard favourites in the form of If Yr Famous And You Know It Sack Yr Band (based on a true story he leads us to believe!) and Alone, he treated us with three new songs including, Text Book and AVO off his new Cassingle EP. The songs were a great taste of what some of us have been waiting to hear in the four years since his last release.

After the 'new' section of the set, it was back to The New Matthew and Girls Like That Don't Go For Guys Like Us. David put Geoff, the sound guy, on the spot a bit with the request for a bit of flange and reverb heading into the guitar solo in Girls Like That, which he didn't quite get to in time. After that, David failed to disappoint one audience member, taking up the request to play I Could Never Be Your Woman, despite needing some time to remember the chords again (which comes as a great surprise to anyone who followed him between about 1998 & 2003, where this song would almost always make an appearance!). With a bit more warning this time, Geoff chimed in perfectly with the flange and reverb during the 'guitar solo part of the song'. David then finished the relatively short set with I'm Going To Execute Your Ex Boyfriend, unfortunately leaving many of tonight's crowd wanting more.

Angie Hart was last up tonight, once again in vocal mode accompanied by acoustic guitar. She started off the set with a number of slower and quieter songs, which put her in a bit of a difficult position. Still, she soldiered on through it, and everyone close enough to listen above the crowd were well rewarded. Her set consisted of songs from her last album interspersed with some of Frente's back catalogue. David was invited back on stage at the close of the set for a cover (whose name escapes me now). Unfortunately for some of the crowd tonight, it was only Angie who came back for the brief encore.

Whilst I enjoyed the night, I couldn't help but feel that it would have been better if David and Angie's sets were swapped around and if they played a couple more songs together during the encore. Here's hoping there'll be a few more headlining gigs in store for David on the release of his album later on in the year.

Gigs update 2008/06/26

2008-06-26T19:52:00.002+10:00

New gigs on the radar include Doch and Guy Webster, The Mess Hall, Magic Dirt, and The Polyphonic Spree!

Gigs update 2008/06/16

2008-06-16T20:19:00.003+10:00

Wolf & Cub, Paul Dempsey and The Fratellis added here.

Pinky Beecroft & The White Russians @ The Zoo

2008-06-15T21:14:00.006+10:00

Last Thursday night we found ourselves back at The Zoo for the second time in just over a week. I hadn't noticed all the signs up about not taking photos last time we were there, but they were much more obvious to me this time, especially as I had remembered to bring mine along with me this time. So once again, no photos to go along with this review.

Opening tonight was Athron, who played solo acoustic guitar. Having said solo though, I was somewhat confused for a while because I was sure I could hear backing vocals. The confusion was soon allayed when I realised that he was using a loop pedal on his vocals to get the backing vocal effect. It's the first time I can remember seeing a loop pedal used on vocals as opposed to using it on the guitar to build up a song. As with most musicians that rely heavily on a loop pedal for their set, I found it cool and interesting at first, but a bit tedious as the set went on, as it was used on most, if not all, songs. I think it's like most effects, in that they're best used in moderation. But I digress. Athron had a great set of vocal cords and a matching guitar talent that made this an enjoyable set. His album is worth checking out too if you're into any or all of Jack Johnson, John Butler, or Elliot Smith.

Up next was Goldenhorse; a New Zealand on their first tour of Australia. From what I've read, they're pretty big over in NZ, and from the set they played, I could see why. Vocalist and front-woman, Kristen Morell led the band through a number of fun-pop songs that you can imagine gets the dance floor moving back home. Unfortunately for the band, due to the low attendance tonight and probably the unknown songs that were coming forth, only one or two people took them up on their offer to "boogie on the dance floor" by the end of the set. But they didn't seem to let that sway their enthusiasm towards the music.

I guess it could have been a combination of uni exam time, a school night, and probably an under-advertised gig that led to the relatively small turn out for Pinky Beecroft's latest project, The White Russians, compared to what he would have been used to when he was in Machine Gun Felatio. Again though, that didn't stop Pinky from getting right into the gig, even telling the crowd how much better they were than the Melbourne crowd of the previous night. Pinky was entertaining throughout the night, in a similar way to how David McCormack woos a crowd. You can't help but want to listen to what he has to say, both when singing and talking between songs. His introduction to (a much heavier and faster) Unsent Letter, as being "a cover of a band he used to be into", was a classic example of this, as was his explanation of another song about a guy who, after being stood up on a date, had a car accident with someone else that he ended up falling for.

The line-up wasn't exactly what I was expecting after visiting their web site, namely due to the absence of Cameron Bruce (who I've since learned is only a part-time member). But it was great to see Nick Steward up on stage again behind his Les Paul and Telecaster guitars. It's probably been over eight years since I saw him play with George, but it didn't take long for me to remember his fantastic guitar playing from back then. Rounding out the line-up was Christian McBride on drums and backing vocals, Ben T on bass, and Pinky on his new keyboard (with its difficult to find piano setting!).

To me, the music was reminiscent of Machine Gun Felatio, but with its own life. There were only a few songs that I recognised, which were either MGF songs or covers of other bands, but I found everything else very listenable. Towards the end of set, they pulled out Blondie's Call Me, and they finished off the encore for the night with MGF's I Dance Electric. I picked up their EP on my way out, and am looking forward to hearing their full length album, which is due out in a couple of months.

Tylea And The Imaginary Music Score @ The Troubadour

2008-06-10T21:21:00.003+10:00

On Saturday night we went in to The Troubadour to catch Tylea supporting Paddy Dempsey, although, in the end, due to a big week and bigger afternoon, we ended up missing the latter. That was okay though, because we were mainly there for the former.

Opening the show tonight was local four-piece, The Kindness Of Strangers. They played a very layed back set of harmonic folk-pop tunes with a range of instruments that included flute, mandolin, and ukulele. Whilst I enjoyed the music and the some of the clever lyrics, I personally found the tone of the female vocalist a bit difficult to listen to at times. It would be interesting to hear one of their recordings to see if it was just an artifact of the mix that night.

Tylea and the full, 7-piece, Imaginary Music Score managed to arrange themselves on the small stage, with just enough elbow room for them to manage their instruments! Actually, they seemed surprisingly comfortable in the space where I've previously only seen about up to 5 musicians fit.

Tonight's set-list was quite familiar to anyone who has seen the band play in recent times, with a couple of newer songs, but mostly songs drawn from Tylea's independently released double album, Colour Your Insecurities. It started off with Tylea by herself, playing the instrumental soundscape, Red Plastic Panpipes, after which she was joined by fellow guitarist, Mark Angel, and backing vocalist Rozi Pizzey for Lean. Keyboardist Sally Campbell, guitarist Chris Pickering, bassist Terry Dixon, and percussionist James Lees completed the ensemble for Making The Clouds and the remainder of the set. One of the highlights for me was hearing Tunnel Day, which brings back fond memories of Tylea rocking out in Gota Cola back in the day.

Tylea usually enjoys a chat with the crowd in between songs, and tonight was no different. So much so, that I think they ended up being a bit rushed for time towards the end of the set. Life To Grow finished another great gig that makes me look more forward to hearing some new music from Tylea, hopefully in the near future!

The Thrills @ The Zoo

2008-06-09T21:05:00.004+10:00

Last Wednesday night we went to The Zoo to catch The Thrills on their current tour. I was a bit surprised to realise that it was the first time I'd been to The Zoo all year considering we're already up to June! The Zoo was one of the first venues I frequented when I started getting into the music scene all those years ago, and it hasn't changed much in that time. If you can get past the grungy feel on the surface (and some people can't), it's a great place to go and see bands play (except perhaps in the middle of summer, when its lack of air conditioning can make it a bit uncomfortable). I estimate its capacity to be somewhere around the 400 mark, which seems to be a good size to get the room pumping on sell-out nights, whilst still retaining an intimate feeling on those nights when the crowd is smaller. Tonight wasn't a sellout by any means, but there were plenty of people there to make for a good night out.

The support act tonight was Sparkadia. Whilst I recognised the name of the band, I can't recall hearing their music before, even though a few people said I know it when I heard it. Apparently they've been receiving a bit of air play on Triple J recently, and there were more than a few people in the crowd who were really into them. Their set got off to a shaky start due to some technical problems, but once they got going, they put forth a good indie-pop set. Their single, Animals, was a definite crowd pleaser, with most if not all of the room tapping, nodding, singing and/or dancing along with it.

According to vocalist and frontman, Conor Deasy, tonight marked the first time The Thrills have played for six months. Aside from similar technical difficulties at the start of the set though, you certainly wouldn't have noticed. The Thrills are out here on their Teenager album tour, but they were happy to play jukebox to the crowd, and their set ended up consisting mostly of songs from their back catalog, with just a handful of newer songs. This suited me fine, as I recognised most of the songs despite not yet owning their latest album. Highlights from the set included Saturday Night, The Irish Keep Gate-Crashing, Tell Me Something I Don't Know, Big Sur, Found My Rosebud, and Santa Cruz.

They did a cut-back version of Not For All The Love In The World, which featured a slide guitar part, but I don't think it came off with the same strength as the rest of the songs did. Maybe I just had high expectations for it given that it's one of my favourite songs of theirs. In any case, it was just a small part of a fantastic set. The band left the stage after their main set with a conspicuously missing song, but it wasn't long before they returned for two more, the last of which was their standout song, Whatever Happened To Corey Haim. All in all, a very entertaining night!

Gigs update 2008/06/01

2008-06-01T19:45:00.002+10:00

Still having a bit of trouble keeping on top of upcoming gigs, but I've been made aware of a couple of new ones; Cold War Kids and Death Cab For Cuties. Details here.

Winter storm brewing over Brisbane at dusk

2008-05-18T19:32:00.005+10:00

This was the brilliant view we had from our deck yesterday afternoon as the storm brewed over the city. The orange sky was other-worldly!

Time Off bought by Street Press Australia

2008-05-12T21:00:00.001+10:00

I found out last weekend that a few weeks ago, SPA bought Brisbane's local music street press magazine, Time Off. I've been an avid reader of Time Off for around 10 years now, relying on it as my main source of news of upcoming gigs and interviews, and to a lesser extent, recent releases.

There's been a few changes to the layout and format over the years, and even though they seemed quite drastic at the time, I found that the last incarnation was great for finding what I wanted quickly. One of the things I really liked was the bold-ing of band names and artists in the quick news sections (eg, Tour Bus, Local and Soundcheck sections), which made scanning the paragraphs a breeze. The gig guide was also very comprehensive, listing both headliners and supports for most gigs, often up to four weeks in advance. The only thing I can think of that would have made it better would have been to distinguish new listings in each edition, but on the whole, it was very usable.

Every now and then I manage to pick up a physical copy of the magazine, but I mostly access the content online. I noticed something was astray when the online version had not been updated for a couple of weeks (it's usually updated in sync with when the physical mag is out, ie, every Wednesday). I didn't pay too much attention to it, thinking that there must be some technical reasons behind it. That is, until I picked up a copy of the mag and read the article about the acquisition.

Since that issue (1370 for those playing along at home), the format of the physical magazine has changed significantly. The emphasising of the band names and artists in the news snippets is gone, making it much more slow and painful to skim read.

The gig guide is now split up over a few different pages, where only gig listings for the coming week go into detail about who the supports are. It also appears that only mid to big-name bands are listed with significant advance notice. I think both of these factors are a backward step for smaller acts trying to gain more exposure. As someone who is into a lot of the smaller acts and isn't averse to going to a gig just to see them in the support role, I think it's going to make it harder to find out about them in time to lock them into my calendar! Things like the upcoming David McCormack support and Pinky Beecroft gigs are nowhere to be seen in the latest issue.

So far, I've only experienced the changes in print, as the website still hasn't been updated. I'm hoping that it will be a bit easier to read online when it does come back! In the meantime, I'm doing a bit more leg-work of my own and scouring the venues' websites for those elusive nuggets of gigging gold.

Gigs update 2008/05/06

2008-05-06T21:00:00.000+10:00

It's been a little while (more on that soon), but my upcoming gigs page has been updated! New additions include Pinky Beecroft's new project, Clare Bowditch, Holly Throsby, Angie Hart with David McCormack, and The Whitlams.

The Panics @ The Tivoli

2008-05-05T13:59:00.003+10:00

On Saturday night, I found myself at The Tivoli again, this week to see The Panics. It feels like I've already been there heaps more than just the three times I've actually been this year, but I think it must be because I was only there last week.

On a side note, it'll be interesting to see what affect the new taxes on "alcopop" drinks have on the already exorbitant prices at the Tiv'. Anecdotally, I've heard the price of a carton of pre-mix rum & coke cans has jumped from $45+ to around the $80 mark. Given that they currently charge $10 per aforementioned can there, I wonder if they'll even continue trying to sell them!

Anyway, back to the show. The Wilson Pickers were part way through their set when we arrived. This four-piece alt-country band fell very much on the country side of that particular genre, but in a very good way. At times, they were reminiscent of The Travelling Wilburys with their tight instrumentation and strong vocal roles throughout the set. The setlist itself comprised mostly of originals but also included a Bob Dylan cover and the increasingly obligatory cover of Dolly Parton's Jolene.

The primary support act tonight was Melbourne 5-piece, Little Red. Their set was almost the very definition of pop music. Backed by the drummer, the four-part harmonies sung by the two guitarists, bassist, and vocalist oozed of mid 60's Beatles & Beach Boys. I would have no hesitations in recommending them to members of my parents' generation! Interestingly, all four vocalists took the lead for one song or another, which at times left the front man looking like a bit of a fifth wheel. For the most of it though, you could tell that this is just one big happy group (a bit too happy for my liking) doing what they like doing.

After a bit of a longer break, the band everyone was waiting for finally came on stage. From what I could tell, their set was made up of most of the songs from their last album, Cruel Guards, interspersed with songs from various stages of their back catalog. There were a lot of songs tonight that I hadn't heard before (or at least don't remember hearing), but enjoyed greatly none the less. The band sounded genuinely humble as they expressed their appreciation of the large and enthusiastic crowd throughout the set, which for me at least, really made me feel a part of this night. This was quite a feat given that it looked like the gig had sold out!

Towards the end of the main set, they brought a couple of local horn players out, which really added to the sound of Feeling Is Gone, and the crowd favourite, Don't Fight It. The band concluded their main set with Get Us Home, in which, from seemingly so few instruments, they produced a wall of sound that I haven't experienced at The Tivoli since I saw Mercury Rev there several years ago.

The band returned to the stage shortly after for their encore. The second of the two songs they played for it was an instrumental jam out, which, while at first seemed like a bit of an odd choice, was a great way to finish the night. Based on what I heard tonight, I'm really looking forward to delving into The Panics' back catalog!

Regurgitator @ The Tivoli

2008-04-29T22:04:00.006+10:00

On Saturday night, we went to see Regurgitator at The Tivoli. I was a bit surprised to hear them say it was their first time they've played there, given how long both the band and the venue have been around for. As is the case more often than not, the Tivoli brought out out the best in the performers on the night.

Due to a prior engagement, we missed the first support, but arrived in time to see American band, Ratatat, take the stage. Their electro-doof music did a great job at getting the crowd moving and warmed up for the main event. I'm not overly familiar with many electronic/techno acts, as they seem to be a bit of a hit and miss affair with me, however, I did find these guys to be more of a hit with me. I'm sure the presence of a guitarist amongst the keys and bass had something to do with it.

After a quick change over, Regurgitator took to the stage and broke into Blood And Spunk off last year's Love And Paranoia release. They followed it up with My Robot Friend and continued with highlights from their back catalog including, in no particular order, I Will Lick Your Arsehole, Kong Foo Sing, ! (The Song Formerly Known As), Polyester Girl, I Wanna Be A Nudist, I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, Black Bugs and I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am.

The fact that I only own their latest album and still recognised almost every song they played really highlighted for me how successful this band, who herald from Brisbane's dark ages of music, has been over the years. Not everyone's favourite songs were played (specifically, there were many requests for Blubber Boy coming from our general vicinity that went unanswered), but they still managed to keep the not-quite sell out crowd jumping up and down in time with the music for the evening.

You also gotta love a band who writes a song called Drinking Beer Is Awesome!

The Eels @ The Tivoli 24th April, 2008

2008-04-28T20:10:00.005+10:00

[Courtesy of Paul, who went to the gig last Thursday]

I'd been looking forward to this gig for ages as I remember The Eels playing a hard and tight rock set last time I saw them. Unfortunately by the end of the night I wished I hadn't gone as I really don't think I would pay to see them again and that sux when a favourite band lets you down in such a big way.

When we arrived at the Tivoli we noticed the unfortunate set up of seating, which is usually a sign that the gig has struggled to sell tickets. After purchasing a drink for the same price as feeding an African village for a month ($8.50 each) we found a seat, dead centre on the top balcony. A large white curtain was set up in front of the stage so you couldn't see the set up. I was trying to find out who the support were but the reason I couldn't find out was because there wasn't one. This was really the Mr E ego night. Nice and early a documentary started showing about E's search to understand his father's famous Quantum Mechanics theory. We sat there expecting after a few minutes the curtain would drop and The Eels would be there rocking out a big number. After 55 minutes it was clear that this was not going to happen.

After the doco the sheet was removed and an interval took place, by now the crowd was restless and you could see people starting to wonder what was going on. The stage setup was incredible. An upright piano, drums, guitars, a drawbar organ and several other antique looking keyboards familiar to The Eels fans. It looked like it was going to be special.

E came to the stage and sat down (he sat for the entire concert) and started to play the first song. No sooner had he started, he stopped to complain about people using cameras. This was the beginning of the end. He played about 3 or 4 numbers by himself swapping guitars with his roadie at the end of every song which gave an odd feeling because he would start to hand over the guitar as he strummed the last chord. He wasn't really interested in being there.<

He played a couple of numbers on piano, for which he had his back to the audience and the piano obviously hadn't been tuned and not amplified very well. I know he likes a bit of a honky tonk sound sometimes but this was just insulting for an $80 gig. It was like a school assembly.

Finally he was joined on stage by the only other band member Chett(?). He was quite talented and played everything from guitar, piano, drums to slide guitar and the saw. After a few numbers Chett did a reading from E's autobiography and obviously a few in the audience decided that they had had enough and were giving him a hard time. E didn't take this well and started to heckle them back and complain about people talking. They played a couple more songs and then did another reading, well people were really restless now and I don't blame them, no one paid to see someone read a book, they wanted music. The final nail came when E started to play the next song and people down the front were still talking. At The Tivoli the noise really carries and he was obviously put off by this. He stopped playing looked over at the guy and told him it was ridiculous and he had to shut up. He kept on at the guy telling him that he was going to start playing soon and he better shut up. !
Well this brought the room to silence. I don't think people were brave enough to even clap, they were just scared that they would be next.

The next couple of songs had some really good free rock sections and would have been very entertaining but he had really soured the audience. The set eventually finished and they left the stage. They came back for one encore. E had obviously had someone in his ear when they went off because he started to make excuses about a long flight and not feeling well. This didn't wash and he copped a bit of abuse for which his reply was. '"It took 24 hours to get here, I didn't really want to come anyway, and this will be our last show in Brisbane"".

For what musically was a pretty good gig I don't think anyone (except the hardcore fans) will remember it that way. I know E can be a bit strange around people, but this was beyond strange. This was just rude. People pay good money for gigs and they deserve some respect. E's ego has obvioulsy destroyed his ability to remain humble and remember how privlidged he is to be able to tour the world doing what he loves best. I really don't think the audience was to blame. I actually think they put up with a lot and he should have known that people were restless because he wasn't entertaining them.

In some ways, I still would have liked to have gone to the gig, if only to see how it panned out first hand. But at the same time, maybe it will turn out for the best and I won't be jaded if and when they tour next time.

Thanks for the review Paul!

Del Toro, An Horse, and Do The Robot @ The Brisbane Powerhouse

2008-04-13T21:01:00.011+10:00

On this rather warm April day, we made our way down to the Brisbane Powerhouse for the Sunday afternoon Live Spark session.

The Powerhouse is literally one of Brisbane's old power stations. It was given a new life about 10 years ago and reborn into one of the city's great live performance venues. They've left a lot of the interior and exterior in-tact, which gives it a great industrial feel. It's situated on the river right next to New Farm park, and is one convenient CityCat stop away from us.

The three Brisbane bands in today's session were all from the Valve record label, and were each launching their latest releases.

Up first this afternoon was Do The Robot. This two-piece made up of a guitarist and keyboardist (who also played the glockenspiel & guitar for a couple of songs) had a pretty good sound to them. Whilst I liked the minimalist repetitive style of the songs, I felt they were a little nervous, and as a result, not very tight together. I still decided to pick up their album, Amp On Fire, and I'll be interested to see how much of a difference their recorded sound has.

When I saw Kate Cooper from An Horse on stage to set up, I recognised her from Iron On and was a bit worried about what was to follow. I've had a couple of not so great experiences seeing Iron On play which, although was probably related to technical difficulties at the time, have left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I'm happy to report that An Horse's set today fit in well with the other two bands, and ended up being a pretty good listen. They had the most stage presence out of the three bands by far, which added to the overall enjoyment of their set. Having said that, they still weren't my cup of tea, and they were the only band whose CD I didn't pick up today.

The third and final act today was Del Toro. I saw them once before (back in 2005 apparently) supporting City City City at The Alley Bar. I remember really liking them at the time and was disappointed to find out after their set that they were still working on getting a recording out. Since then, they fell off the radar for me, so much so that I only vaguely recognised the name when I saw their gig advertised.

In contrast to the other two bands, Del Toro were quietly confident on stage. But that's where the quietness ended! Their instrumental set consisted of a number of screaming high guitar tones, interspersed with sharp bass and solid drummig. I recently heard their style described as "desert rock", which is a much more accurate description than I could come up with (along the lines of alt country/blues/rock).

Their set was short but sweet and I picked up their latest album, Hydra, on my way out, so there may be more about them coming soon from this space.

Gigs update 2008/04/11

2008-04-11T18:10:00.004+10:00

Wolfmother if you're quick, more Pseudo Play-doh (still love that name), Del Toro, and The Mars Volta. Plus a little visual surprise! All here.

Missed out on Smashing Pumpkins

2008-04-10T20:43:00.009+10:00

Based on the write up in this week's Time Off and what I've heard from someone who saw them at the V Festival, it looks like I missed out on a really good show. Apparently, the Convention Centre show went for a whopping 2 hours 20 minutes, kicking off with 'Porcelina...' and including classics such as 'Tonight, Tonight', '1979', 'Today', 'Ava Adore', 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', 'The Everlasting Gaze' and 'Mayonaise'.

And the closing of the main set sounds right up my alley:

... the note-perfect Pumpkins decide to close their set with an epic, and rather experimental, three-song amalgamation (‘Cash Car Star’, ‘Crush’ and ‘United States’) that spans 20 monotonous minutes. With only a handful of prog-rock fans nodding their heads in appreciation, this self-absorbed tripe proves to be a disastrous finish to an otherwise faultless gig.

[Paul China Time Off 9th April 2008]

Sounds like just the kind of self-absorbed tripe that I'm into ;-)

I've always had a theory about the 'Pumpkins; that they went down hill when they kicked out their drummer (Jimmy Chamberlin) after Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. Whilst Adore certainly has its moments, I think there are a lot more tracks on that album that could have been better with a real drum track. Given that Chamberlin was present again for this gig, it would have been great to hear some of the later material with him behind the kit.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Gigs update 2008/04/02

2008-04-02T21:20:00.002+10:00

Today's new additions are Doch (this Friday), The Thrills, Angus & Julia Stone, and The Black Keys.

Gigs update 2008/03/30

2008-03-30T21:37:00.002+10:00

New additions to the upcoming gigs page, including Regurgitator, Tylea, Princess One Point Five and Pseudo Play-Doh.

Unfortunately, there's also been a couple of removals. First of all, due to a prior engagement, I won't be able to go to The Eels upcoming show in Brisbane. Although, I haven't alltogether ruled out going to see them in Sydney :-)

The second unfortunate bit of news is that The Mountain Goats have had to cancel their Australian tour. Here's hoping they will be back out later this year.

Angie Hart at The Troubadour

2008-03-18T21:25:00.003+10:00

On Saturday night, we headed into the Valley to catch Angie Hart playing at The Troubadour.

As was mentioned previously, seeing someone perform at The Troubadour is very much like having a band play in your living room. There are plenty of couches and soft cube seats available if you're there early enough. The decor inside is very retro - I think I even recognise one of the prints on the wall as a picture from my parents house. There are a lot of lamp shades and a cozy orange glow about the place!

First up tonight was Edward Guglielmino. (And here I am complaining about how often my surname gets mispronounced! For the record, and in case I forget, it's Goog-lee-el-Me-no with emphasis on the caps). He played acoustic guitar and was supported by one of the guys from behind the bar (Tim, I think his name was) on electric guitar, ukulele, and backing vocals. Edward's voice and delivery reminded me a bit of Jens Lekman, and Kate thought there was a bit of Jeff Buckley in there as well. He sang and played very sincerely, and as a result, we were captivated by his set. Unfortunately, the (somewhat appropriately named) "Very Tacky" EP he had on sale at the gig doesn't do him justice. Hopefully another recording will be forthcoming.

Next up was Emma Dean, who I understand is another local. For some reason, the name sounded very familiar but I still can't put my finger on why that is. She played piano (and violin for one song) and was supported by a guitarist (whose name escapes me now). For a long time at the start of her set, I couldn't get past the fact that her voice sounded very much like Missy Higgins. The style of music was more along the lines of Sarah Blasko, but I had trouble getting into it until the last two songs of the set. I can't exactly remember anymore now what made them stand out for me, but I do remember that I liked them the most.

Angie Hart was the third and final act for the evening. Back in the day, I never got past Frente's popular songs and into the rest of their material, so I'm not really sure how Angie Hart's solo work compares to it. I imagine the solo work is quite a bit darker, as was my impression of the album when I picked it up a couple of months ago. As a guide, I find at times that it's reminiscent of Sally Seltman (aka New Buffalo) or Tylea.

Tonight, she was backed by two other musicians; one on electric guitar (and who looked a lot like Nick Cave!) and the other who switched between guitars and keyboard. During the set, she came across very confidently, seemingly being sure of every word that came out of her mouth, both when singing and talking between songs. I thought she looked a little awkward not having an instrument to lean on as she sang, but that probably added to the confident appearance. Her set consisted of what I believe to be songs mostly from her recent album, Grounded Bird. Unfortunately I don't know the album well enough to list many memorable songs, however, one absolute standout was the beautifully sung Kiwi. She finished off the night with Bizarre Love Triangle, which I'm sure made the night for the Frente fans in the audience.

Friday night at the Brisbane Jazz Club

2008-03-16T20:00:00.003+10:00

A last minute decision saw us spending Friday night at the Brisbane Jazz Club last week. If you've never been there, and like anything along the lines of jazz, blues, soul, funk, latin, swing, and a lot more, I can definetly recommend a night out there. It's located right next to the Holman Street Ferry Terminal at Kangaroo Point, and the way the stage is setup, you get a lovely view of the river and Riverside/Eagle Street Pier as the backdrop to the performers. There is also an area outside on the river that you can go down to, to take in more of the city as you listen to the music.

In the past, they've had some problems with noise complaints, similar to those that the Valley has had to deal with in the last 10 years. Once again, it was a case of people wanting to move to the area, presumably to be close to the "action", but not wanting to put up with the by-products of the scene, eg, the extra noise. As a result, the club has had to survive on a limited liquor licence combined with forced accoustic sets or shutting up the venue entirely while acts perform. However, with the help of fundraising last year, they have since installed air conditioning, which has allowed the acts to play later into the evening, and makes it much more pleasant inside (especially during the summer months).

The bill for Friday night was Pseudo Playdoh, supported by the Paul Young Trio. Paul Young is the drummer of this piano/bass/drums trio, and a very talented one at that. Their set consisted of a number of standard jazz tunes along with a few originals. I remember thinking that their renditions of Bye Bye Blackbird and Nutville (at least I think that was the song - don't quote me on it though!) had a nice touch added to them while staying true to the originals.

Pseudo Playdoh (great name for a band!) started the set by handing out small tubs of Playdoh to the audience, presumably to keep our hands busy while their music kept our ears busy! It's the best gimmick I've seen at a gig for a long time and it certainly added to the fun factor of the night.

The band describe their style as experimental jazz & funk, which is pretty spot on. Their sets consisted of a number of arranged original pieces as well as a few forays into improvisation. It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to engage in experimental improvisation, and seeing the way the band members worked off each other, communicating only through body language and their instruments, it reminded me of how much I used to like doing it. They're obviously either good at it or were working from a few known structures, because what came out of it was pretty good!

I can't comment on much of the rest of the two sets (as we were a bit distracted by wine and using the Playdoh to sculpt the band members with their instruments) except to say that it was a very enjoyable evening.

Both bands had their sets recorded tonight, so I'm looking forward to hopefully getting my hands on some of their music in the near future.

Gigs update 2008/03/13

2008-03-15T11:12:00.000+10:00

New additions to the upcoming gigs page, including Eels(!), British India, and Ed Keuper.

Valley Walk of Fame

2008-03-12T22:00:00.000+10:00

Last week, I heard about the unveiling of a new Walk of Fame in Fortitude Valley to celebrate Brisbane's music history. I obviously missed the announcement last year, and hence my opportunity to take part in the voting for who the first 10 plaques would be awarded to. I am happy to say though, that they went to a number of well deserved groups.

Included in the initial 10 are The Saints and The Go-Betweens, who were pioneers of the Brisbane music scene in the late 70s/early 80s, and Powderfinger and Regurgitator who woke the city up in the 90s and proved that you no longer had to leave Brisbane in order to continue to be successful in the industry. I am especially stoked to see Custard up there as well, who have a special place in my heart for helping to expand my own musical horizons and introducing me to a number of other local and Australian musicians throughout the late 90s.

Some of the other, more well known, acts are The Bee Gees, Savage Garden, and Keith Urban (who, I was surprised to learn, grew up in Caboolture). Rounding out the ten are Blowhard and Railroad Gin.

Here's a selection of the pics I took when we were in the Valley on the weekend:

If you want to go looking for them, they're at the top of the Brunswick Street mall, in the middle of the street.

Nice quote about The Alley

2008-03-08T14:25:00.002+10:00

From this week's time off:

[Venue booker, Belynda-Jane] Hemmling used to hang at the Alley before working there, and says its attraction was “It felt like seeing a band with close friends in your own living room.”

That's almost exactly what it was like (only I don't get charged for beers in my own living room ;-) )!! I think, however, that it's a better description of what The Troubadour is like. To me, The Alley was a cross between The Troubadour and The Zoo. In a good way!

Gigs update 2008/03/08

2008-03-08T14:13:00.000+10:00

I've updated my gigs page with a few bands/musicians I plan to catch in the next couple of months. Iron & Wine, Angie Hart, Grand Salvo are probabilities and The Panics are a maybe.

Sonic Youth @ Fowler's Live - Daydream Nation tour 2008 (Friday, 22nd February)

2008-03-03T21:54:00.000+10:00

Friday week ago, we flew into Adelaide to catch Sonic Youth on their Daydream Nation tour.

After taking a detour to the shops to get a jacket for the unexpectedly cool weather, we found the venue and went inside. Well, outside to be exact. The venue consisted of a small-ish bar on the side of a lane way. The lane was blocked off and the stage was setup at the end of it.

The support act was an Australian band called The Scientists. They played a loud and solid set of rock-noise-blues, which I think suited the job well. I could easily imagine myself getting into them a lot more.

During the break after the support it started to rain a bit. Not too heavily, but enough to cause a lot of the crowd to head into the bar. Lucky for us, we got the idea to head to the bar before the rain started :-)

Not long after the rain stopped, Sonic Youth made their way to the stage, and true to their words broke into the opening of Teenage Riot. Unfortunately we weren't in the best position in terms of sound, and it was a bit muddy and not as loud as I was expecting. This was more obvious after spending some of the time during the support standing next to the sound desk. Unfortunately, that was also a major throroughfare for people wanting to get to the front the stage or to the bar, and it quickly got tiring having to constantly move out of the way for said people.

Even after taking into account that we weren't in the best position for sound, the start of the set was a bit of an anti-climax for me. I got the impression that they were going through the motions a bit and not really getting into it themselves.

Silver Rocket was a bit of an improvement, but they really started to shine when they went into The Sprawl and 'Cross The Breeze. From there, the set got better and better. Maybe it was just a false start, but they all seemed much more into it as the night went on.

Notable highlights included Eric's Trip, Providence (I was wondering how they were going to perform this soundscape live, and it worked very well) and the brilliant dis-chord in Candle (much more pronounced than what I'm used to hearing it on the album).

Coincidentally, the rain started up again as they started Rain King! Hardly anyone moved inside this time, ourselves included. I was lucky that the jumper I bought had a hood on it, and we used one of the street presses to keep Kate's head dry :-)

Kate was a reluctant audience member heading into the gig as their music isn't normally what she's into, but even she was bopping up and down with me to Kissability! Another convert maybe?

True to the album, they did all three parts of Trilogy. Part III of was another song I was wondering about how it would translate live, and after hearing them complete the set with it, I have a whole new appreciation of it! I get the feeling that they may have used it in the past as an encore, but on this night they went straight into it. Finally, after the extended outro, the band bid their farewells and went off stage.

It wasn't until I listened to the album again before going to the gig that I appreciated how well it hangs together as an entire piece. I've felt that Sonic Youth have a hit and miss affair with consistency across entire albums, but Daydream Nation sticks out in my head as one that I could listen as a whole just as easy as (or even easier than) listening to the songs in isolation. The gig reinforced that feeling I had, in that as much as I like other albums more, such as Washing Machine and A Thousand Leaves, I couldn't imagine them being played live from start to end.

The other thing I really noticed tonight was how little the music has dated. Considering the usual images of music in the eighties, you could be forgiven thinking that this 20 year old album was released much more recently.

After the obligatory three minute disappearance from the stage and to chants of "Adelaide loves Youth", the band came back on to play Incinerate and two more songs (one sung by Kim and the other by Lee), which I think were also from Rather Ripped. It was good to hear the new songs alongside Daydream Nation, once again showing how little the album appears to have aged.

After a slightly longer break, they returned for one last song. One of the songs that stood out in my head from the last time I saw them play was Drunk Butterfly, and to my pleasant surprise, this was the song they finished the night with. It was a fitting way to end the gig given how much of Adelaide's finest brews were available at the venue :-)

RIP The Alley Bar

2008-02-22T21:51:00.000+10:00

According to Time Off this week, The Alley Bar is closing down in a couple of weeks time. The Alley' holds a special place in my memories as one of those intimate dingy little bars that was home to some very great acts over the years. Along with seeing the likes of Bernie Hayes, The Skippy, Machine Translations, and The Titanics, it's where I first saw and heard Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set and City City City. It's also the venue that Leonard played a number of gigs at!

So to The Alley Bar, thanks for the music, the band competitions, the Toohey's Olds, and River Phoenix (the friendly heckler). It was a fun time!

Music in 2008

2008-02-19T21:38:00.000+10:00

We're looking forward to another great year of new & live music! Due to bad timing of our last-minute trip last year, we missed out on seeing José Gonzales play at The Tivoli in January. However, we were fortunate enough to catch Sufjan Stevens with his band there a couple of weeks later.

I was pretty bummed when I heard that Sonic Youth weren't doing a Brisbane show (despite doing Adelaide & Perth), so it was a great surprise for me that Kate got us tickets for the show in Adelaide! I got into Sonic Youth right after they played Livid '98 (even though I didn't get to see them then) and I've only only seen them live once since then. A lot of people I know don't get the noise aspect of their music but it strikes a great chord within me.

Unfortunately, we missed out on tickets for Jens Lekman at The Troubadour on March 5th, but I'm going to do my best not to miss out on tickets to the Mountain Goats gig at The Zoo on April 15th. We've seen them play there three times before and it's always been a great show. John Darnielle exudes passion in his singing and playing, leading to a very mesmerising performance. This is the first time they're bringing a drummer out to Australia with them, so it'll be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes to the past guitar/bass performances.